The reform act crisis & Whig reforms 1833-41

• Why did the Tories disintegrate after 1827

  • Canning takes over as PM & tories split over foreign policy & catholic sympathy 
  • Lack of stable leader to unite the party 
  • Wellington had to give in to Catholic emancipation (lost support of left and right sides of party)
  • Resurgence in parliamentary reform campaign 
  • Outbreaks of violence (Swing)
  • Daniel O'Connell
• Why was O'Connell Important

  • Wanted catholic emancipation & to restore an irish parliament 
  • Won the County Clare election (1828) but couldn’t take his seat in parliament as he was catholic 
  • Peel & Wellington tried to stop him entering parliament by making him run again but he won regardless and achieved catholic emancipation
• What were the effects of the Great reform act (1832)

  • Upper class expected working class to settle 
  • Working classes got nothing from the act and continued protesting 
  • Middle classes got some reforms but wanted more
  • The Tory party split
• When was the Great Reform Act

  1832
• What did the Great Reform Act do

  • Extension of the electorate (middle class - 14% adult males)
  • Redistribution of seats (56 rotten boroughs abolished, 30 lost one MP)
  • Many industrial towns given MPs for first time
  • First step towards modern democracy
  • Forced the Tories to rethink principles on reform
• Motivation for Whig's social reform

  • Fear of revolution from the working class
  • Liberalism, middle class ideology (utilitarianism)
  • Humanitarianism, William Wilberforce
• Define Liberalism

  laissez faire attitude
• Define Humanitarianism

  working for the benefit of humanity
• What was the Education act (1833)

  • £20,000 grant established for education (less than annual budget for royal stables) 
  • First step towards public education, within 40 years grant increased to £800,000
• What was the Factory Act (1833)

  • Regulated factory conditions & enforced by inspectors 
  • Work of children under 9 years made illegal, 2 hours of education to be given to child workers aged 9-13 and were to work no more than 9 hours, 13-18 no more than 12 hours
• What was the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act (1833)

  • William Wilberforce’s life struggle to end the slave trade was achieved 
  • Slave owners compensated £20,000,000 (£37 per slave)
• What was the Poor Law Amendment act (1834)


  Allowed poor to seek refuge in workhouses
• When was the Abolition of the Slave Trade

  1833
• When was the Factory act

  1833
• When was the Education act

  1833
• What was the Significance of the Great Reform Act

  • It was the first of its kind (step towards democracy)
  • Tory argument the British Constitution was organic which could be killed proven false
  • Gave the middle class a share of power & allowed series of social reforms 
  • Changed the Tory Party for good (by 1835 they were no longer resistant to all change or reform)
• (1) Passing of the Great Reform Act

  • Bill proposed (March 1831) reformative measures (extend electorate to 18% males & owners of houses £10<, redistribution of seats), passed through commons by 1 vote but defeated by Lords
  • New Bill introduced (sept 1831), passed through commons by 109 votes but defeated by Lords
• (2) Passing of the Great Reform Act

  • Bill revised by commons (March 1832) as public distress increased, Grey resigns over inability to convince King to support the bill & radicals threatened a run on the bank & national uprisings 
  • Wellington advises king to recall Grey to pass bill but instead the King persuaded objecting tories to pass the bill (passed in June 1832)
• What caused the need for the Poor Law reform (1834)

  • Impact of the Napoleonic Wars causing agricultural depression
  • Change of attitudes towards the poor
  • Political economists (unneeded expenditure)
  • Pressure from the Swing riots
  • Resentment of the poor rate
• Limitations of the Poor Law Amendment Act

  • oversimplified view of poverty
  • Managements during depressions
  • failed to see relevance
  • No change was made
  • administrative resentment